Last January I told you about an up and coming company developing online programs for kids, Flying Rhinoceros. I enjoyed my experience reviewing PrezQuest for them so I was thrilled to hear that they have expanded their offerings to include three new experiences.

Carter and I jumped in for the Insects class last week and yesterday my 81 year old mom did the Presidents experience with him. We all found it really it easy and fun to use. The character in the Insects kinda freaked Carter out though (in a funny way). He kept telling me that “That is NOT a kid it is a creepy old man”. I kinda have to agree. He found the ‘boy’ hysterical. Next week we are looking forward to the How To Draw Cartoons class. He actually has this one marked on the calendar so he doesn’t forget.

The live teacher really is an ingenius way to grab the kids attention. The first day of whatever series you choose, the class is live and interactive. There is an actual ‘teacher’ there to guide you through the activities. You sign in on the top of the hour any time between 10am-7pm MST. My son LOVES asking questions just to make sure that the person is real and not a set up They are. The teacher calls your child by name and interacts with them one on one. The remaining days of the series are activities that you work on with your child. Fraboom provides a very well done activity guide for you to download and print (my only complaint is that it uses a TON of ink so I don’t print the first page).

Seriously, you all really need to check this company out. I absolutely love them. The series of three classes is $9.99. They were nice enough to offer 5 memberships though for me to give away to my readers.

Would you like one of the memberships? Here is your chance to win!

REQUIRED Initial Entry: Just leave a comment on what you think your child might like about Fraboom. You can go to the Fraboom site for more ideas. This company is all about listening to us parents, so honestly tell them what you think!

Optional Bonus Entries. If you already do these, that counts too, just tell me in separate comments:

* Receive 1 Entry – (You may do this one time per day) for tweeting about this giveaway. Copy and paste this —–>@chaotic_barb has a great giveaway going on for @fraboom & I want to win http://bit.ly/Rq2dZ

Please leave a separate comment for each entry. Must be 18 years of age or older. We reserve the right to remove any entry from this giveaway that doesn’t have the requested information. This giveaway ends Sept 4, 2009 11:59 pm EST. Please allow up to 4 weeks to receive your item. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours another winner will be chosen.

I think every homeschool/unschool mom worries at some point about feeling like their kid may be ‘behind’. Behind that magical standard of the kid in public school at their age. So, I was relieved to find out that not only is Connor not ‘behind’ his peers but his new ‘school’ wants to move him up to a Freshman level skipping the 8th grade. I was really surprised because the K12 curriculum is known for being fairly rigorous in middle school and certainly more intense than most brick and mortar middle schools.

So, small pat on my back for sticking to my guns when most people thought I was insane to homeschool him and HUGE pat on his back for being the engineer of his own education the past two years. Guess he knew what he was doing after all.

Oh, and the reason we are doing the virtual school is just to get him back in the groove of ‘regular’ school for highschool next year. When he had his interview in the spring for the private highschool he is applying for next year they actually told us to keep homeschooling (much to Bobs surprise) but I know him and he knows himself well enough to know that he needs to get back to a schedule at some point.

Will write more on our K12 experience as time passes but right now I just wanted to indulge in some braggin’

Knowing what home school curriculum books or resources to purchase can be an overwhelming task. There are so many things to choose. How do you know which one to choose and whether it will be right for your family? Here are some questions you can ask yourself when looking at different home school resources:

1. What is my child’s learning style? Does this book or curriculum fit in with how my child learns?

2. Is this resource a formal textbook, workbook or unit-study support material?

3. Do I know anyone else that is using this book or curriculum? What do they have to say about it? What positive and negative comments do they have about this book or curriculum?

4. Does this resource look like it’s easy to use? Can I just pick it up and teach from it or do I have to spend some time reading through the manual to prepare?

5. Can I view this curriculum at a bookstore or homeschool conference?

6. What does my child say about it after they have looked over it? You don’t have to put as much stock in this answer as the others, but sometimes your child has some insight into whether you should use this or not. Children tend to want to have the easiest work possible, so you will need to use your judgement about whether your child should ultimately use this curriculum or not.

7. Is this book or resource secular or Christian? Is this fact important to you or not?

8. If you get confused or frustrated with this resource, is there parent support available?

Once you answer all these questions, you will have a better idea of whether this book or resource will fit in with your educational and family goals or not. You will invariably purchase some things that you don’t need. Every veteran home schooler has purchased books or resources that they didn’t like or need at some point over the years, no matter how closely they looked at what they were buying. You just move on and learn from those purchases. But, for the most part, these questions should help you make an informed decision of what you should purchase for homeschooling this year.

For more tips on homeschooling, grab your free report “How to Home school using the Best Resources” at http://www.homeschool-how-to.com Heidi Johnson specializes in helping families find resources to simplify and improve their lives.